Crysis 2 and Others Disappear from Steam, EA's Relationship With Steam Unknown [UPDATED]

not to be a steam fanboy, but its slightly suspect that ea managed to get a game pulled that is now exclusive to their own service.

@c0l0nelp0c0rn1: Those bonuses folks like from Steam (screen captures, friends lists, overlay with web browser, etc) are still available if you add the game from the "add non-Steam product" menu. All the games I have registered through Origin are also in my Steam list, and that's where I launch them from.

Now if EA were to require me to launch games from within Origin, I'd get pretty annoyed myself. But I doubt that will happen (save for online only stuff like The Old Republic or whatever). In my experience, you just had to launch them from Origin the first time to get the DRM to activate (since Origin doesn't need to run in the background) and maybe once more three or four months later to refresh the DRM. Having to run Origin four times a year doesn't sound that imposing to me.

@zkillz said:

not to be a steam fanboy, but its slightly suspect that ea managed to get a game pulled that is now exclusive to their own service.

But it's not exclusive to their own service.

@boylie said:

@Jeffsekai said:

Good move on EA. People seem to forget that Steam is run by Valve, a video game company and a rival for EA. I mean, can you even buy TF2 or other Valve games anywhere else other than Steam? Nope, double standards need to go away.

You can buy most Valve games in stores, Team Fortress 2, the Half Life series, Portal, etc, among them, and guess what? EA publishes them! Weird, right? Perhaps what needs to go away is people sounding off about things they don't quite know enough about...

And maybe you should stop making assumptions and read the whole thread. I already posted about this, EA has publishing rights to Orange Box and Portal 2, they sell the boxed copy in stores and they get a cut of that. But, even if you buy the game in store Steam is still forced on you, and there is no way to play them without it. Also, EA is selling boxed copies of Valve games on Origin not digital copies. My point stands, but let my phrase it better, you cannot buy a copy and then play a Valve game without dealing with their digital distribution platform.

If you were able to buy TF2 and never have to deal with Steam then you would have a case, but you can't and you don't.

Hey, its EA's property. Losing Steam may hurt sales, but they are trying to prop up their big new download service.

@c0l0nelp0c0rn1: Those bonuses folks like from Steam (screen captures, friends lists, overlay with web browser, etc) are still available if you add the game from the "add non-Steam product" menu. All the games I have registered through Origin are also in my Steam list, and that's where I launch them from.

It's a bad idea to not have Battlefield and TOR on steam when these are HUGE investments that NEED to pay off.  I'm sure they're going to lose significant PC sales simply because they aren't on steam.
 
I want to know what those business terms or whatever is that Valve implemented.

@c0l0nelp0c0rn1 said:

@MrKlorox said:

@c0l0nelp0c0rn1: Those bonuses folks like from Steam (screen captures, friends lists, overlay with web browser, etc) are still available if you add the game from the "add non-Steam product" menu. All the games I have registered through Origin are also in my Steam list, and that's where I launch them from.

So what's your beef with Steam, then? Is it that you don't have a disc or local copy?

What do you mean? I don't have a beef with Steam. I just said I even use it to launch non-Steam games.

The only beef I have relating to this is with people dismissing Origin as garbage based on incorrect assumptions.

Hahahah the update is hilarious, with all the whiny bitches crying after EA for this and its Valve who did all this. hahahhaa 
 
Steam aint that holy grail of pc gaming now, is it kids? hahahaha!

Well, fuck. I hope I'll be able to buy BF3 and ME3 on Steam. The only disc I've bought in the last  
3 years is SCII.

@Jeffsekai said:

@boylie said:

@Jeffsekai said:

Good move on EA. People seem to forget that Steam is run by Valve, a video game company and a rival for EA. I mean, can you even buy TF2 or other Valve games anywhere else other than Steam? Nope, double standards need to go away.

You can buy most Valve games in stores, Team Fortress 2, the Half Life series, Portal, etc, among them, and guess what? EA publishes them! Weird, right? Perhaps what needs to go away is people sounding off about things they don't quite know enough about...

And maybe you should stop making assumptions and read the whole thread. I already posted about this, EA has publishing rights to Orange Box and Portal 2, they sell the boxed copy in stores and they get a cut of that. But, even if you buy the game in store Steam is still forced on you, and there is no way to play them without it. Also, EA is selling boxed copies of Valve games on Origin not digital copies. My point stands, but let my phrase it better, you cannot buy a copy and then play a Valve game without dealing with their digital distribution platform.

If you were able to buy TF2 and never have to deal with Steam then you would have a case, but you can't and you don't.

Wasn't making assumptions dude, I was addressing exactly what you wrote in your initial post. You said nothing about games REQUIRING Steam at all in the post I replied to, you said they can't be BOUGHT anywhere else. I addressed that point, and let you know that you were very wrong on that point. If you wanted to make a point about REQUIRING Steam, then you should have actually mentioned that bit. To say I "don't have a case" because you apparently clarified your point, god knows how many pages into this thread, is crazy talk. The owness isn't on me to read those 11 pages to see that you've apparently since clarified your point, the owness is on you to be concise in the first place.

As to your brand new point, yes, you're right. You do need Steam installed in order to play Valve games on PC.

RABBLE, RABBLE RABBLE

EA: "Steam is good at selling things and we aren't, so we're taking our ball and going home"

edit: lol that's some weak ass backpeddling there EA. Crysis 2 said it was "origin only" yesterday.

I would have thought that EA needs all the advertisement and "shelf space" they can get when BF3 is released. It means that they need to be everywhere - this includes Steam. You simply cannot dismiss Steam anymore. To maximize sales on the digital distribution front you need to be on there - which is something that Activision will surely do with Modern Warfare 3 (Battlefield 3's prime sales opponent).

@ScaryGaryofAk said:

I can't wait to see origin become a failure and then ea going back to steam again lol

Why not do both?

Maybe they'll resort to using Steam again later on, but Origin will always give them a bigger percentage of each sale so they'll just leave it up.

For the record, i'm not using Origin.

Crysis 2 is pretty disappointing, so you're certainly not missing out on anything by not playing it.

Chances are BF3 will be on Steam closer to launch. Just like with BFBC2, they're probably holding back any information relating to a Steam release in order to get more people to pre-order directly from them. It worked on me last time and I'm fighting the urge to let it happen again.

BF3 is on D2D for pre-order, so you can bet your ballsack it will be on Steam too. It just probably wont have the "physical warfare" pack with it since that's retailer specific stuff that I'm sure EA doesn't want Valve to offer. Yes, I'm a sucker for completion, so I'll end up pre-ordering from a place that offers this pack. It'll probably end up being a disc copy as well, just like BFBC2.

@FuzzYLemoN said:

The correct way to handle this is to make it available on both Steam and Origin, and then give people a reason to choose the Origin version. If they can't do that, then Origin doesn't deserve to exist.

This.

I really don't get the cynicism surrounding Origin. Sure, nobody asked for it, but it's EA's right to distribute their products however they see fit. How is it the act of an evil corporation to challenge another company's near-monopoly? Especially when that other company is taking a 30% cut on each unit sold AND devaluing their products with frequent fire sales. I really don't buy anything on Steam at full price. The expectation is that it will be dirt cheap at some point soon and I'll be kicking myself if I can't take advantage when that moment comes. I'm not complaining -- but what's good for me as a consumer is not necessarily good for the developers who need revenue to stay in business.

Is Origin as good as Steam? Hell if I know, but I'm guessing it's not even close. But as I recall, Steam was a piece of shit when it launched, so there's always room for improvement.

I really hope that this little spat is resolved in time for BF3's arrival. I'd rather invest in a physical copy of BF3 than rely on EA's digital store which may not exist a year or so down the line,

Honestly, I can't be arsed to comprehend any of this.

@monkeystick said:

@FuzzYLemoN said:

The correct way to handle this is to make it available on both Steam and Origin, and then give people a reason to choose the Origin version. If they can't do that, then Origin doesn't deserve to exist.

This.

The only correct response^^.

@Forcen: No, it was from his twitter feed from earlier in the day.

I'm sorry EA, and other companies.  I'm not logging into 10 different programs to see what my friends are playing.    I'm going to log into Steam; because thats the one they all use; and just add games that don't work on it. 

Alright.. with the new updated news thats just Ea being Ea... Geesh

I will just get Battlefield 3 elsewhere.

If EA's statement about this is true, then maybe Valve should be the target of all this ire, not EA. 
 
Unless, of course, we're talking about the BF3 not on Steam thing, which is still a dumb move by EA.

if you buy a hard copy of BF3 you are probably gonna need to install and create an Origin account just to play the game (much like Steam and GFW), if this turns out to be true i'm not buying BF3 (digital or retail).

i like how they're so casual at the end of the statement. "You can still get it from Gamestop, Amazon, and Origin.com. You know, the 3 major games sellers where you can buy all the hits games. What? Origin isnt one of those. YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH! GO WATCH THE CRYSIS 2 TRAILER AT ORIGIN.COM NOW!"

I'm just wondering what's happening to those that have bought these games on Steam, do they get continued service, a refund or have they simply been shafted?

I'm probably missing some key details but I haven't read anything about this issue.

Right, message received, EA doesn't want money for their software.

Gonna be hard to buy EA games if they're not on Steam, sure as hell not getting involved with EA store at this point.

Want to know the full details of this.

Steam is PC gaming to me now. It's too much of a hassle to buy and keep track of games on different platforms. As far as I'm concerned, Steam is a main gaming platform just like PS3 and 360. It has my achievements, friends list etc. I was just about to buy Alice, and was definitely planning on Battlefield 3, but that's no longer happening. I'll probably just get them for consoles now. PC gaming has certainly been on the up due to Steam, but PC gaming sales are still not as strong as console gaming sales. I believe this move will only serve to decrease overall sales on PC. It sucks. 

Alright, Ive been searching through Origin for this 2 year download time and 5 installs per game, but I simply cannot find that on paper.
 
What I did find in the FAQ was:
- "Digital download rights remain available for at least one year after purchase. Origin typically doesn’t retire games, and we’ve only retired around 10 of the 150 games we sell, and these have generally been because of the expiration of licensing rights. If you come across an issue, simply contact Origin Help and we'll reconfigure things for you."  - Basically, keep your hands clean sort of thing.
 
" A: Origin enables you to access your games from any PC, anytime, anywhere. Should you have an issue, contact Origin Help and we'll get you fixed right up!"
 
and the only restriction I could find for number of downloads was this:
"Every time the download button is clicked, a download count will be added to your lifetime total. If you have installed your game via Origin on more than three computers within a ten day period, you will need to wait until the first installation expires."
 
I cant find anything about it in the US (http://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/) or EU (http://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/eu/en/PC/) ToS.
 
Id love to know where this info is coming from (evaluating the service as Im rather at home in Steam like most other people).

@timmysprinkles said:

@Jeffsekai: Actually, The Orange Box is available on Origin.

Which will still require Steam to run. Buying it from Origin is only the physical copy. Try adding it to your cart and you'll see you can't download it.

@Pumpe said:

Alright, Ive been searching through Origin for this 2 year download time and 5 installs per game, but I simply cannot find that on paper.

It's an internet legend. This hasn't been the practice for a LONG time and has been perpetuated by ignorant people.

I have read a couple different game site forums on this issue and all i have seen is universal hatred of origin.Crysis 2 was removed for steam the same day its new DLC launched with the ability to buy it from in-game.Is this what triggered Valve to remove crysis 2 from the store?Who knows but is the closest thing to making sense since other EA titles are still available on steam.

Crysis 2 DLC exclusive to your Origin registered version of Crysis 2.

It seems like Valve has not problem with games using other places to purchase DLC (see Games For Windows Live) or with EA games registering on Origin but I am guessing that the Crysis 2 DLC will only be available on Origin meaning it will not work with your STEAM version of the game.

but i own crysis 2 on steam. what happens then?

It looks like Valve has to protect itself from shops like Origin. So it's the right move from Valve, isn't it? I mean, if EA wants to maximise profit, especially for BF3, they have to crawl back to Valve (Steam), right?

Hell, Im no fan of EA either, but it seems that you can add Origin-games to Steam as a "non-Steam product" and thus keeping your friends list.
 
Anyone with games on Origin that can confirm?

All I know is I'm sure as hell not buying Battlefield 3 on "Origin". If EA doesn't make good with Valve again then I'll be forced to buy retail which sucks but it's better than supporting a shitty service.

From the scuttlebutt that I've heard around and around, EA isn't the only publisher, major or minor, that is increasingly frustrated with just how much of a cut Valve is taking from every individual sale that is made in the Steam store. If the rumors that this is about the ability to buy DLC in the game directly instead of on the Steam store are accurate, I suspect this is the tip of a much bigger iceberg.

From a consumer standpoint, it would be nice to have a centralized place to buy and play games. But I can also see how from EA's viewpoint, they're just trading their retail relationship with brick and mortar to a similar retail relationship with Valve. One of the benefits of digital distribution is that there is no middle man needed, but I think Valve has entrenched themselves so firmly in the mind of gamers as the go-to company for selling products that they're idolized, despite the fact that they take clear advantage of their position of first-to-market.

@jayjonesjunior said:

if you buy a hard copy of BF3 you are probably gonna need to install and create an Origin account just to play the game (much like Steam and GFW), if this turns out to be true i'm not buying BF3 (digital or retail).

I hadn't even considered this possibility but you're absolutely right, they'll probably use the game as some kinda hook to force people onto Origin. As much as I want BF3 I feel strongly enough about this issue not to buy the game if that's the case, and I'm sure as hell not buying a console version.

@scraz said:

Crysis 2 was removed for steam the same day its new DLC launched with the ability to buy it from in-game.Is this what triggered Valve to remove crysis 2 from the store?Who knows but is the closest thing to making sense since other EA titles are still available on steam.

I don't believe that's the case since Mass Effect 2 worked the same way for DLC on the steam version.

@Pumpe said:

Hell, Im no fan of EA either, but it seems that you can add Origin-games to Steam as a "non-Steam product" and thus keeping your friends list. Anyone with games on Origin that can confirm?

Absolutely. Hell, It's even possible to register your cd keys for EA games you bought through Steam on Origin, and make a Steam shortcut to that installation of the game. It's a completely pointless circle, but it's entirely possible. You don't need Origin running to play the games you downloaded through that client and it pretty much treats the installation process like a disc based game, meaning you can install it on any drive you want.

edit: @Pumpe said:

@MrKlorox: Thanks! Now I know I aint blind, tehe. So whats the deal with all the hate? Yes, its annoying to have two different stores. Yes, Steam has deals and indie-games (which is why Ill still use it), but f.ex. BC2 costs 29,99e on Steam and about 8e less on Origin. So whats up with the "they are more expensive than retail"? I also tried the client. Its alot better than Steam at launch (expected tbh. A bad start would put HUGE holes in the project). If Origin had sales, indie-games (which is not only a good segment of the market, but also provides PR "we care about games") Id start using it.

All but one of the games I own through Origin were purchased from other stores (both digital and brick/mortar). It's great having a digital backup of a game I bought on disc, and it's also nice not having to put my creditcard info on yet another site to take advantage of its services.

And it does have sales often, but the other stores (Steam, D2D, etc) always try to undercut them. Add one of the RSS feeds from Steamgamesales.com to your reader. They cover Origin, D2D, Impulse, and Gamer'sGate sales too. Super handy to not have to browse different clients every day.

Wish EA wouldn't be so vague with their answer. It'd be much easier to understand the situation if they had just said what the problems are.

Well now I guess I won't be needing a gaming PC, I'll game on my console.

My question is will Steam version of Crysis 2 that I bought still be supported with patches?

Damn, that update is pretty crazy. The fuck Steam.

I love how ridiculousness people on Reddit are, this update comes out and instead of saying "Hmmm looks like Steam fucked up" they start crazy theories on why EA did this on purpose (When it's Crytek who violated the agreement). People are so in Valves hand's its amazing.